Month: August 2015

A sweet, simple sentence from a friend that invited me to be the most vulnerable I’ve been in a long time. And I’m to blame for that.

If I’m being honest, I’m intimidated by intimacy. My thought process is that if I share too much they’ll judge me. Or think I’m crazy. Or tell everyone. Or a million other possibilities. The problem with my view of intimacy is that when I have these thoughts, I haven’t even given someone the chance to NOT do these things. I assume bad things will happen and that stops me from experiencing true intimacy in conversation with friends, family, and even strangers.

The sentence above was an invitation to be vulnerable. An encouragement to be real. In that moment I realized I need that friend. I need other people. Other people have this great capability to get you out of your head and into reality. To grab you by the shoulders and say: “you’re okay. you’re okay. you’re okay. YOU’RE OKAY.” They bring with them an invitation to keep going. To not give up. It’s a sweet thing, to finally accept that you need other people. And that doesn’t mean you’re weak. It’s means that you’re human and you weren’t meant to do life alone. We were never meant to do this alone. We are meant to live in community and fellowship with others. This means experiencing intimacy.

I refuse to live my life in fear of intimacy. I refuse to regret being confident and forthright. I refuse to suppress what I’m feeling. If you want to cry, then cry. If you want to scream, then scream. If you need help, tell someone. If you feel too much, that’s okay. Express it. Chances are you will invite others to be vulnerable as well.